New Delhi, Jan 23 (IANS) Even as the US has pulled out from the World Health Organization, Serum Institute of India (SII) chief Adar Poonawalla on Thursday said that the UN health agency’s role is essential in global health systems.
In a media interview at the World Economic Forum (WEF) 2025 in Davos, Poonawalla said that WHO plays a crucial role in maintaining global standards on medicines and vaccines. In addition, they also contribute to testing, research, and surveillance.
“They (WHO) maintain, and sustain global standards for medicines and vaccines, and they’re essential for maintaining global health systems, testing, research, and surveillance,” Poonawalla said.
His comments come as the new Donald Trump-led administration in the US pulled out funding from the WHO. Shortly after his inauguration to a second term, Trump signed the executive order on the withdrawal stating that the WHO mishandled the Covid pandemic and that the agency required “unfairly onerous payments” from the US that were disproportionate to the sums provided by other, larger countries, such as China.
The US has long been the largest contributor to the WHO’s mission, contributing $1.28 billion in 2022 and 2023 – $400 million more than Germany, the second-largest contributor.
Poonawalla called on other nations to step up and bridge the funding gap left by the US.
“We’ve been calling upon leaders and others here to step up to bridge that gap because there are other countries who can and $500 million is not a huge amount in the grand scheme of things for countries to pitch in and contribute.” He also shared about how SII is tackling the global malaria challenge by providing vaccines, especially in poor countries.
SII is “trying to reduce malaria in countries in Africa by providing vaccines that can save lives”, the CEO said, while calling for collaboration between governments and private entities to develop affordable solutions to various other diseases.
“With our capacity and partnerships, we aim to ensure that every individual who needs these vaccines gets access to them,” he added.
Globally, the WHO data reveals that an estimated 2.2 billion cases of malaria and 12.7 million deaths have been averted since 2000, but the disease remains a serious global health threat, particularly in the WHO African Region.
In 2023, there were an estimated 263 million cases and 597,000 malaria deaths worldwide — representing about 11 million more cases in 2023 compared to 2022, and nearly the same number of deaths.
Poonawalla noted that SII has been shipping the R21/Matrix-M malaria vaccine to African countries, which has an efficacy of 77 per cent.
–IANS
rvt/
Disclaimer
The information contained in this website is for general information purposes only. The information is provided by TodayIndia.news and while we endeavour to keep the information up to date and correct, we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the website for any purpose. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk.
In no event will we be liable for any loss or damage including without limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage, or any loss or damage whatsoever arising from loss of data or profits arising out of, or in connection with, the use of this website.
Through this website you are able to link to other websites which are not under the control of TodayIndia.news We have no control over the nature, content and availability of those sites. The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.
Every effort is made to keep the website up and running smoothly. However, TodayIndia.news takes no responsibility for, and will not be liable for, the website being temporarily unavailable due to technical issues beyond our control.
For any legal details or query please visit original source link given with news or click on Go to Source.
Our translation service aims to offer the most accurate translation possible and we rarely experience any issues with news post. However, as the translation is carried out by third part tool there is a possibility for error to cause the occasional inaccuracy. We therefore require you to accept this disclaimer before confirming any translation news with us.
If you are not willing to accept this disclaimer then we recommend reading news post in its original language.
